Rise of Crimson Blade
by Rene-Dullahan
Summary: As Valentine Delilah Black, born Valentine Lethe Potter to James Charles Potter and Lily Elizabeth Potter nee Evens, let go of her younger sister's hand and fell into the crashing waves of the sea, a new legend is born... a legend of an ethereal women who bares a bloody blade in hand. Rated 'M' because I'm paranoid.
1. Prologe

**Rise of Crimson Blade**

 **Summary:** As Valentine Delilah Black, born Valentine Lethe Potter, to James Charles Potter and Lily Elizabeth Potter nee Evans, let go of her younger sister's hand and fell into the crashing waves of the sea, a new legend is born...the legend of an ethereal woman who bears a bloody blade in hand.

 **There will be cursing and allusions to (and sometimes depictions of) adult themes (Mostly because PIRATES).**

 **10 Feb 2017: This chapter has been edited heavely. So if you are a returning reader i would ask that you read it again so that you aren't confused by any changes later on.**

 **Disclaimer ~ I don't own Harry Potter or One Piece.**

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

 **Prologue**

The ancient and most noble house of Potter was descended from great warriors - and later Magicians. Stories chronicling their deeds and exploits are filled with valor and benevolence. The greatest (and most recent) of these tales is that of the Dark Lord Voldemort's defeat at the young hands of Charles Godric Potter. After that fateful Halloween night of the year 1981, the young Potter was named the Boy-Who-Lived with many celebrating the defeat, and numerous stories were written which regaled the valiance of the child's deed.

This, unfortunately, is the way of humanity. They proclaim their leaders and heroes, forge great weapons of war from nothing, fight the legendary battles over the smallest of wrong doings.

But they forget that one act of greatness does not make a great hero, one willing to save those in need, nor does one victory temper a warrior's blade so that it may readily strike down the evils of the world.

However, the legend of the Boy-Who-Lived was not the only one birthed that night. While the Wizarding World had crowned its savior that night, Lady Magick - the patron goddess of magic- named one who would carry a piece of The Will… And that child's story starts with an incantation that bequeaths the end of Life.

Avada Kedavra.

 _Death_.

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

On July 31st, 1978, at midnight, a child was born to Lord and Lady Potter. Valentine Lethe Potter was a lovely girl, dark of hair and green of eye, with ivory skin like the finest of china dolls.

When Valentine was born, her father, James Charles Potter, and godfather, Sirius Orion Black, dramatically lamented the girl's teenage years when they would have to threaten any boys who tried to court their perfect little raven.

What the two men didn't know was that those joked of days would never come, that the jested threats would never be spoken on Valentine's behalf.

Because on October 31st, 1981, everything changed.

Valentine was three years old and her new brother was one and a half.

That night, Lord and Lady Potter had gone to the Ministry's Halloween Gala, leaving the Lady's sister, Petunia, to care for the two children.

At midnight, a dark figure glided up the road, street lights flickering and then going out as he passed them. Proceeding up the drive of the modest cottage, he blew the door off its hinges with a blast of concentrated magic, shattering the silence with a flash of color and sound. The figure made his way up to the nursery. That door joined its fellow in splitters on the carpeted floor.

Looking to the blond woman in the room, the figure raised his wand and hissed.

"Give me the children!"

"No!" the blond woman shouted in defiance, "I will not let you harm them!"

"Give me the children and your life will be spared!"

"I'd rather die!"

"If death is your desire, that I shall make it reality!" the attacker hissed with anger and contempt.

A flash of green light.

The woman lay dead on the floor of the nursery.

The killer then turned his wand to the two children cowering in the corner. The girl was staring at the still form of her aunt whilst the boy bawled into his sister's blouse. The girl looked up at the bone white man in front of her and pulled her brother closer to her small frame.

Staring into the eyes of the young girl, the man absently noted they held the same eerie beauty of the curse he had just cast.

Feeling only a sliver of sadness of having to kill a magical child, the man once again cast the bright green light.

A child's scream flooded the night.

A blood-red shield sprang into existence to repel the spell.

The man cried out in shock and agony as his soul was ripped from his mortal form.

A wave of magic hammered against the walls.

Debris fell.

Then silence.

Lord Voldemort was no more.

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

Hours later, James and Lily Potter Apparated into to the rubble that was once their home. Behind them came Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Then Albus Dumbledore arrived with Aurors from the Ministry of Magic. All frantically searched the rubble.

First, they found the bruised and bloody form of Petunia Dursley. Then, the two Potter children in a circle of rubble, seemingly untouched by the catastrophic event. Lord and Lady Potter cried out in relief. While making their way toward the children, everyone saw the black robes and the bone white wand of Voldemort. Terrified for the lives of the youngest Potters, all rushed to them.

After checking the two for wounds and healing what they could find, Albus Dumbledore proclaimed Charles Godric Potter the Boy-Who-Lived, due to the lightning bolt shaped scar pulsing magic upon his brow. So proud were Lord and Lady Potter, that they forgot the raven-haired girl that lay in Sirius Black's arms.

Over the coming years, the Potters basked in the glory of their youngest child. Slowly, ever so slowly, they forgot the raven haired girl with green eyes the color of the Killing Curse.

Two years after, they scolded the girl for waking her newborn sister.

Five years after, they yelled at her for not being ready for an outing.

Seven years after, they screamed at her for interrupting them during an interview.

That same day, her godfather came into her room and held her, congratulating her for receiving the Hogwarts Owl and its cargo of the acceptance letter for the school of magic. Then, in an effort to cheer his goddaughter, Sirius offered to take Valentine to Diagon Alley for her school supplies.

Nearly a decade after that life-changing Halloween, the Lord and Lady Potter locked Valentine in her room so she wouldn't ruin the birthday party of their precious son. Later that night, when they denied that Valentine existed, she _snapped_.

She ran to her godfather, tears streaming down her face and accepted the offer he made in her second year at Hogwarts.

The next day, Valentine Lethe Potter walked out of her parents' home, out of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, out of the light…

...And into the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black.

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

Valentine's former parents didn't notice their daughter's absence until the time came for them to leave for King's Cross Station.

At the station, the Potters saw Valentine, Sirius, and Remus hugging each other goodbye. Anger drove them to yell at the three, even as they wondered why their daughter was with them.

In retaliation, Sirius looked at them with cold fury and hissed:

"You have no right to speak to my daughter and me in such a way."

"Your daughter?" Lily sputtered in indignation.

"Yes," the Lord of House Black said with pride apparent in his voice,"I would like you to meet Valentine Black,"

"A pleasure to meet you, Lord and Lady Potter," the thirteen-year-old said in a voice that was like fine silk over a sword as she bowed her head.

"Valentine Lethe Potter, I have had enough of this nonsense! You will not speak to us in such a disrespectful manner. We are your parents!" Lord Potter roared.

Looking at the man with cold anger and distaste, the Black Heiress would ask, "When were you ever my parents?"

The question shocked the two into silence as they contemplated a response.  
When the Potters made to respond, Valentine dealt the final punishing blow.

"Know this, Sirius Black is my father and has been such a figure for the majority of my life. As far as I am concerned, you two are simply my sperm donor and incubator."

The proclamation sent a lance of pain through Lily and James. They knew they had not been the best of parents to Valentine, but the revelation of how the girl saw them made the two freeze with shock.

With her piece said, Valentine had hugged her father good-bye and climbed onto the train.

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

Once their son was safely on his way to Hogwarts, the Potters ran to Gringotts to verify the claim of adoption.

Upon discovery that the claim was indeed true, they turned to finding a way to revoke the adoption. But found it was not the adoption most families used, where the child only gained the name of the new family.

Black had used a runic blood adoption, a process that replaced the genetics of the child and changed the magic to a hereditary composition, that was reminiscent of the adopting parent(s).

For all intents and purposes, Valentine Black was born a Black and there was no way to legally prove she had originally been a Potter, unless Valentine herself agreed with the claim.

Over the years, the Potters tried to convince Valentine to come back to the family, but each time they failed.

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

Three years of happiness later, during the summer of Valentine's sixteenth birthday, she received a letter asking to meet…

...Two hours after her arrival at the designated time and place, masked men attacked.

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

A red sun rose on a blood-stained clearing. Weapons littered the scorched and crater filled area. Blood spattered the tall oak trees surrounding the clearing that opened onto a cliff face. bodies covered the now red grass.

An unidentified human slumped against a tree, the edge of the cliff and crashing waves just feet away. The person stared down at the crimson liquid covering their hand and the gaping wound in their stomach.

Smooth metal pressed against the figure's leg. They shifted their gaze down and away from the ugly laceration in their gut to the place where the sensation originated from.

Lying there in the blood caked dirt, was a katana.

Picking up the weapon with shaking hands, the figure watched transfixed as small rivulets of blood dripped from their fingertips, only to splatter on the unforgiving ground.

' _Why? Why must tragedy follow me?_ '

The thoughts came unbidden to the mind of the only living person there.

Lost in dark thoughts the figure paid no heed to the steadily rising sun.

As the sunrise illuminated the clearing, the red light reflected off the figure's spiky raven hair, which fell like a river of shadows past thin ivory shoulders, turning the dark locks to a rusty color.

Poisonous green eyes studied the blade in the new light.

The first feature she noticed was that the obsidian-black blade was crusted with dried blood, though some of it still wet and flowing in and around the symbols embossed into the blade; the most prominent being a raven extending its wings around a howling wolf—or was it a Grimm?

With that thought, memories of blue eyes that swam with swirls of mercury, black hair that shone dark blue in the sun, a barking laugh and a smile filled to the brim with light, laughter, and love came whirling to the forefront of their mind.

Under the engraving, blood had pooled and dried in the furrows of engraved words.

 _Abandon fear. Move forward. Never look back. If you pull back, you age. If you hesitate, you die._

The words brought to mind the sound of clashing blades, of dying men, and that cold silence that heralds the mourning of lost loved ones.

It brought memories of war.

The sun was higher now, casting its radiant light down on the teen and reflecting off the tracks of blood streamed down the person's cheeks. The raven-haired teen looked to the kaleidoscope sky.

"Val, where are you?!" called a voice through the growing light, shattering the silence.

Startled, the now dubbed 'Val' looked in the direction of the voice, but her jadeite eyes held a glazed appearance, like she was seeing but not believing there existed some form of _life_ outside of the scorched, bloody, and death-soaked clearing.

' _Is this real?...No, this must be a dream...Horror like this has no place in the glossy mirage that is reality._ ' Val thought with a small, bitter smile.

"Val, are you there?" the voice cried again, this time closer.

' _Val? Could that voice be searching for me?_ '

"I'm here," Val croaked in a soft and broken voice that was dimmed by the fog of pain and emotion.

A girl came into Val's wavering line of sight.

She had wild, fiery red hair, hazel eyes, and a pale, tear-stained face.

Running up to Val, the girl gasped when she saw the steadily bleeding wound in Val's gut.

"-sister, sister! Val! Val, look at me please…!"

"Rosey?" whispered Val in a weak voice.

"Oh, thank the gods!" Rosey exclaimed. "Val, I need you to stay awake."

Rosey tore strips of cloth from the bottom of her shirt and started to crudely bandage the wound her sister bore.

Valentine lifted a blood-stained hand to push herself up and away from her sister. But she stumbled, and off the cliff edge, pain bringing black at the edges of her sight.

Rosey managed to catch her blood-slicked hand and tried desperately to pull Val back up the cliff.

"Val! Give me your other hand!"

Looking away from the crashing waves up to the twelve-year-old, Val stared up at Rosey's pale, tear-streaked face and opened cracked bloodless lips.

"Rosey… Rosey, I'm sorry," Valentine said, her throat tight with regret, as Rosey's grip on her hand slipped, thanks to copious amounts of blood.

"Val! Val, what are you doing!?"

"I'm sorry... I love you...I love you so, so much..."

Then, Valentine Delilah Black, adopted daughter of Sirius Orion Black, born Valentine Lethe Potter to James Charles Potter and Lily Elizabeth Potter nee Evans, older sister of Charles Godric Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, and Rosalina Lillian Potter…let go of her sister's hand and fell into the crashing waves of the sea below.

The image of Rosey crying out, tears streaming down her pale face, reaching out for her elder sister's hand was the last one she saw before the waves swallowed her with a mighty gulp.

"VALENTINE!"

Bubbles filled her vision…

Then black.

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

Hours later, the youngest Potter was still staring at the waves, when she was found among the slaughtered hitmen, still crying out for Valentine and sobbing out that she was sorry.

That day, Valentine Delilah Black was proclaimed dead and her body was forever lost amongst the waves.

That day, the blood of Lady Magick was spilled on the ever-changing glass.

That was the day otherworldly historians will mark as The Beginning.

The Beginning of a Legend.

The Legend of a pirate.

The Rise of the Crimson Blade.


	2. Awake in a New World

**Rise of Crimson Blade**

 **Summary:** As Valentine Delilah Black, born Valentine Lethe Potter, to James Charles Potter and Lily Elizabeth Potter nee Evans, let go of her younger sister's hand and fell into the crashing waves of the sea, a new legend is born...the legend of an ethereal woman who bears a bloody blade in hand.

 **Please remember this there will be cursing and allusions to (and sometimes depictions of) adult themes.**

 **10 Feb 2017: This chapter has been edited heavely. So if you are a returning reader I would ask that you read it again so that you aren't confused by any changes later on.**

 **Disclaimer ~ I don't own Harry Potter or One Piece.**

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

 _Wealth._

 _Fame._

 _Power._

 _Gold Roger, the king of the Pirates, attained this and everything the world had to offer and his dying words drove countless souls to the seas._

" _You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place! NOW YOU JUST HAVE TO FIND IT!"_

 _These words lured men to the Grand Line! In pursuit of dreams greater that they had ever dared to imagine._

 _This is the time known as The Great Pirate Era!_

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

Pain.

That was the sensation that greeted Valentine when she woke.

Pain...and then confusion. While the burning feeling was not unknown to Valentine, she thought the dead felt no pain. Desiring to find out what was going on, Val opened her eyes.

She squinted up at the blindingly white ceiling of...a room she didn't recognize. As she raised her hand to block the bright light, she tried to push herself into a sitting position, only to be restrained by a light but firm grip that pushed her back down.

"Sleep," admonished a soft voice. "You need more time to heal. Go back to sleep."

Valentine sank back into unconsciousness, too weak to argue.

When Valentine awoke a second time, she noticed that the previou"s pain wasn't present anymore and the brightness of the white ceiling had dimmed. She pushed herself up and took in her surroundings.

The room was of modest size and had a large open window next to the bed. Instead of the blinding white she had thought it was, the room was a soft cream color. Against one wall was a dresser and vanity, both of a light brown wood.

Val swung her legs off the bed and stood, leaning heavily on the windowsill. She looked out and saw a small harbor and beyond that a vast expanse of blue waves. A cool sea breeze blew into the room, ruffling the plain white summer dress she was wearing.

She stopped marveling at the sight that stretched out before her when she realized something.

' _Wait... Since when was I wearing a dress?!_ '

She whipped around and shakily rushed over to the vanity mirror. Val stared at the reflection; it was a girl with dark hair and green eyes who look suspiciously similar to how Valentine herself looked at nine years of age.

Valentine blinked…so did the reflection.

She raised her arm...so did the reflection.

Valentine was nine.

 _She was nine_.

"WHAT THE—"

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

A woman stood in front of a stove, gently stirring a pot of soup. She had dark brown eyes like melted chocolate, and yellow handkerchief held black hair-that in the late morning had a dark green shine. She was dressed in an orange blouse with black sleeves and an ankle-length light blue skirt. Her skin was lightly tanned and her face was heart-shaped and kind

The woman hummed a tune as she cooked, moving around the kitchen with a grace born from experience. She smiled, musing about the comings and goings of her village, when a young voice crying out, startling her from her inner thoughts.

"WHAT THE _FUCK_!"

Dropping her ladle in surprise, the woman rush out of the kitchen and up the stairs to see what had caused the outburst from her young guest.

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

Valentine blinked dumbly at the girl in the mirror. She was still very much in shock at the new revelation of her, now much younger, body.

Suddenly, the door burst open and a black haired woman stood, out of breath, in the doorway. Despite the woman's gentle appearance, Valentine was immediately on guard, and firing of questions a mile a minute.

"Who are you? How did I get here? How long was I unconsciousness? Where is here?"

Valentine shot of the questions quickly without giving the woman time to answer. When Valentine paused to take a breath, the woman responded to the questions calmly with a small smile on her lips.

"My name is Makino," the woman greeted. "You're above the party bar in Foosha village on Dawn Island in the East Blue. Some fishermen found you floating in the sea just off the southern coast. They brought you here because the Doctor was too far away and you were bleeding excessively, on the verge of death. You stabilized two days after you were brought here, which was about five days ago."

' _Foosha Village? Dawn Island? East Blue? What the hell?!_ ' The green-eyed girl mentally questioned. A rumbling growl filled the room. Val broke from her thoughts and blushed.

"Well, looks like someone's hungry!" Makino laughed. "How about we get you something to eat and then you can continue asking your questions!"

Val looked suspiciously at the older woman but slowly nodded.

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

After going down a flight of stairs, Makino and Valentine walked through a pair of double doors into the kitchen. Makino led Val over to a small wooden table that had four chairs set around it that looked old, yet sturdy. Once she was sure Valentine was seated comfortably, Makino walked over to the stove and pulled a ceramic bowl out of the wooden cabinet above the stove top.

She lifted the lid off a pot and a nostalgic smell filled the room. It reminded Valentine of the comfort she'd found when relaxing in front of the fireplace in the Ravenclaw common room. Makino placed the bowl in front of Valentine along with a soup spoon.

Valentine could smell touches of garlic and onion wafting up from the bowl. Looking into the bowl, she also saw pork, shallot, and rice. Val tasted the broth and found it had a rich flavor, with a creaminess that was sublime. Valentine promptly devoured the soup with gusto, though she tried to retain _some_ degree of decorum as she scarfed down the rest of the soup.

Judging by the muffled laughter from Makino, she wasn't succeeding.

After she slurped down the last gulps of the soup broth, Valentine set the bowl back on the table with a satisfied little sigh.

"Thank you for the food, Miss Makino," the now nine-year-old girl said in a small voice as she tried to fight down a blush of embarrassment at her unladylike behavior.

"Please, just Makino," the woman said cheerfully, "Now, why don't you ask your questions? I'll answer them as best as I can. But, for every question you ask you have to answer a question of mine in return. Sound fair?"

Valentine considered the suggestion, it would mean giving up information that could possibly be used against her. But for the cause of learning as much as she could about this strange place, Valentine supposed she could part with some information.

Her mind made up, Valentine looked up to the woman and nodded her acceptance of the deal.

"Excellent," Makino said, clapping her hands and smiling, "how about you start?"

Val nodded yet again and made to ask one of the thousands of questions that ran rampant in her mind, but all that came outs was:

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

Valentine could almost imagine all the disbelieving stares of all the other questions as they stopped and their jaws fell open.

"Because you were hurt and placed in my care," Makino answered with a smile. Internally, though, the older woman was frowning at the question.

' _Why am I being nice? Why would this little girl ask such a thing? Could she have…No..._ ' Makino pushed the progressively darker thoughts to the back of her mind. Returning her attention to the girl, Makino realized she didn't have a name to put to the face.

"What's your name?"

"Valentine," Val said, straightening her posture with pride.

"What a lovely name!-"

"MAKINO!" called out a young voice.

Said woman laughed merrily at the young voice's shout.

"WHERE ARE YOU?! I'M HUNGRY!"

Once she found a break in her laughing fit, Makino responded.

"I'm in the kitchen, Luffy!"

Silence.

"MEAT!" the voice, 'Luffy', howled.

Then a small black, blue, and yellow blur burst through the doorway howling an excited chant.

"MEAT! MEAT! MEAT! MEAT! MEAT! MEAT!"

Valentine watched in silent surprise as a black haired boy skidded to a stop in front of Makino.

Luffy was wearing a yellow t-shirt, blue shorts, and looked to be six or seven years old, judging from his small stature. His mop of black hair was messy and short, perched atop his skull like a bird's nest. A face splitting grin shaped remarkably like a sideways capital 'd' was plastered across his features.

"MAKINO!" Luffy shouted. "WHEN'S LUNCH?! SHANKS AND HIS CREW WILL BE HERE AT LUNCH!"

"Indoor voice, Luffy," Makino chided.

"Sorry!" Luffy apologized in an embarrassed, but still rather loud, voice. "When's lunch? Shanks told me they'd be back today and I want to-"

Luffy stopped his mile a minute speaking when he noticed a stupefied girl he didn't know.

"Who the hell are you?" the young boy asked bluntly.

Valentine stared at the black-haired child, still trying to decode his rather...overzealous speech.

Makino promptly burst into a laughing fit for the second time that day.

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

After introducing herself to Luffy and stating that 'yes', she was named after the 'lovey-dovey holiday that boys give chocolate to girls on and girls squeal over' and that she agreed with him that 'Makino makes the best food ever' among countless other random questions. The most prominent being: 'can you poop?' Valentine didn't know how to respond to that one.

Thankfully, Makino saved her from giving an answer by admonishing Luffy in that 'it's not polite to ask a girl that' and further distracted him by saying that 'it was almost noon and that if Luffy wanted to be there when Captain Shanks and his crew docked, then he would have to hurry to the port.'

And hurry Luffy did. One moment, he was standing in front of Makino and Valentine. The next, he had left an afterimage and was running out the door and down the street.

Chuckling at his antics, Makino stood in one smooth motion reminiscent of the noble ladies Valentine had seen countless times at the parties Sirius had hosted for the Dark-Aligned Houses.

"Come on, Valentine," Makino stood and held out a hand to Valentine, "If we don't catch up with Luffy, it's likely he'll be tempted to do something to prove his bravery to Captain Shanks in hopes of joining the man's crew."

The two quickly exited the bar and began making their way down to the dock.

"Crew?" Valentine asked as she trotted along beside Makino.

"Yes. Captain Shanks is a pirate. He's just returning from a trip to check on his territories in the New World and Paradise, I believe. Luffy has been rather excited the last few days…"

Valentine had stopped listening to this point.

' _Pirates? But they haven't been around for_ years _!_ ' she thought with a growing sense of trepidation. There was something wrong here, she had studied countless maps during her lessons with Remus and -if she remembered properly- there wasn't a single mention of Foosha Village, Dawn Island, East Blue, or even Paradise on any of them. The term 'New World' was familiar to her, but Valentine suspected that the 'New World' Makino was talking about was a much more dangerous place than the Americas.

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

A ship cut through the rocking waves of the East Blue like a red hot knife through butter. It was of an impressive size, but there were still larger crafts that sailed the seas of the world.

The light brown wood that made up the hull of the vessel glittered as sea water splashed onto the deck, only to roll down the varnished wood in rivulets of water. On the bow of the ship was a fearsome blood-red dragon captured forever with its mouth open in a challenging snarl. Delicate gold filigree danced around the dragon's thick, but gracefully arched, wooden neck to swirl around its narrowed eyes and snarling mouth. The golden details then curved around the white sun-bleach wood of its horns. Seven great white sails were open and filled with the gentle sea breezes. On the foremost sail was a skull with two red lines ran across the skull's left eye socket. Two curved blades -cutlasses they were called- with red grips were crossed behind the skull.

This ship was called the _Red Force_. She was the ship of the infamous - or famous depending on your allegiance - Red-Haired Shanks, a Yonko, and captain of the Red-Haired Pirates. The latter, however, was a misnomer, as the only crew member with red hair was the captain.

Said captain was currently below deck recovering from a monumental hangover after his spar with the Shichibukai, Dracule 'Hawk-Eyes' Mihawk.

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

Red-Haired Shanks opened his bloodshot eyes and moaned in pain when sunlight from a window hit his stubble covered face.

"Someone turn off the damned sun," the redhead groaned, as he tried - in vain - to block the glaring light.

"Do it yourself, baka-taichou," replied a chorus of irritated voices.

"Lazy bastards," the redhead muttered under his breath.

"Right back at you, cap'n," came the pained voice of the crew's sharpshooter, Yasopp.

Footsteps echoed softly from the hallway and the door of the galley was flung open. Without the worn wooden barrier to block it, a bright stream of the dreadful thing that is sunlight further illuminated the room.

"Captain, Dawn Island is within sight," the first mate, Benn Beckman, intoned in a deep baritone that resonated throughout the galley.

Shanks cursed. If only he hadn't promised Anchor he'd return today. Now he had to get up, get sober, and then deal with all the hungover assholes who were moaning in agony on the floor. The captain conveniently forgot that he was currently one of those also hungover, and thus one of the poor, hungover assholes who were moaning in pain.

Wincing at the cracks from his back and the slight twinges from the bruises and cuts which decorated his tan skin, the redhead stood and stumbled out of the galley door. After a drunken lurch to and up the stairs, the two men emerged on the deck.

Breathing in the salty sea air, thankfully free of the insistent stench of alcohol that had permeated the galley, Shanks sighed in contentment as his hangover subtly receded to a dull throbbing in his temples. Walking over to the starboard bow of the ship, the Yonko leaned against the rail, and let the sea spray hit his face and hair, thus lessening just a bit of the insistent hangover.

Sadly, the relief lasted all of five seconds and the throbbing in his temples abruptly transformed into a sharp agony in the man's head. Groaning at the feeling of a spike being driven into his skull, Shanks dropped his head onto the rail of his ship.

"Regretting that promise, taichou? Or the twentieth keg of rum?" questioned Benn as he pulled on a fresh cigarette.

"Benny?"

"Aye, taichou?"

"Be a dear, and shut up," the redhead said in a faux cheerfulness, his forehead still pressed firmly against the wooden rail in hopes that the headache he was currently sporting would soon fade.

To the captain's annoyance, the black haired man did not shut up, but instead burst into raucous laughter. Lifting his throbbing head, Shanks glared up at the laughing man with bloodshot eyes. At a lull in his laughter, the first mate looked down at his captain's bleary glare and promptly erupted in a second bout of rumbling laughter.

Drawn by the sound of laughing, the rest of the crew who had decided to see what had sent the normally stoic first mate into such a hysterical laughing fit. As it turned out, seeing your captain (who when sober had an annoyingly cheerful disposition) with a scowl, dripping wet hair, bloodshot eyes, a hangover, and glaring up at his perfectly sober and smoking first mate, is a very funny scene to be witnessed by still half asleep and slightly hungover pirates.

"Taichou, we're coming up on the Dawn Island docks!" the lookout called down from the bird's nest.

Shanks' glare instantly evaporated at the words and he turned look out over the tranquil waves to the peaceful island.

He straightened up as though he never suffered from the hangover. A wide grin made its way onto the captain's face at the sight. He spoke his only order to the crew.

"Make ready to port!"

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

Valentine stood to the right of Makino, patiently waiting for the Red-Haired pirates to dock and disembark their vessel while Luffy bounced excitedly on the woman's left. A gangplank swung over the side of the ship to the gap between the ship and docks.

First off the massive boat was a tall red-head, his hair more akin to fresh blood than that of the fiery red that was commonly found in Valentine's own world. The man had three scars that cut diagonally across his left eye, near identical to the 'Jolly Roger' on the ship's sail.

He wore a long black cape over his shoulders and a white shirt that was only half buttoned, leaving part of his chest exposed. There was a wide, crimson red sash tied around his waist, which held up a loose pair of brown trousers, cut below the knee and then collected halfway up his shin. At his waist on the right side was a curved blade, the pommel upon which his arm rested. A straw hat with a red ribbon around its base sat on the man's head, partially shadowing his eyes.

Judging by the fact that Luffy's excited bouncing increased when the boy saw the man and that he started to speak at an indistinguishable speed, Valentine made the educated guess that this man was Captain Shanks. In an effort to block the bouncing child's excited chatter, Val set about studying the men around the assumed captain.

At the redhead's right, walking slightly behind him, was a tall man with nearly a foot more to his height than his captain. The man's black hair was pulled back in a long, slick ponytail. The long-haired man was sporting a black, V-neck shirt with short sleeves, along with dark green loose pants with numerous pockets. The man's pants were tucked inside buckled boots. He too wore a sash around his waist, but this man's sash was yellow instead of the crimson red of his captain's. Tucked into the man's sash was a rifle that sat in a pistol-like fashion.

Just behind the captain was a short, rotund man with a meat bone clenched in one fist held close to his grinning face. His eyes were covered by red glass-ed goggles. The barrel shaped man also wore a green and white bandanna, that matched his shirt, on his head. His pants were a light tan and like his captains were short, only reached his shins.

Lastly, opposite the black-haired man, to Captain's left side, was a blond with stubble on his chin. He wore a dark-blue shirt, dark-green pants reaching down to his calves and blue shoes with buckles on them. His short blond hair was held off his face with a headband that strangely said 'YASOPP'.

Valentine was so entrenched in her musings about the possible meaning behind the headband that she didn't notice the steady approach of the four pirates until Luffy attempted to tackle hug the redhead.

"SHANKS!"

Shanks caught Luffy with a laugh. Valentine mused at how much they looked like father and son, what with their wide grins and the carefree air that the two emitted. Placing Luffy back on the dock, Shanks looked up and noticed the newcomer to the welcome party.

"And who is this little lady?" the man said with a joking bow. Makino was about to reply when Luffy chose that moment to speak up, with that large 'd' grin splitting his face.

"That's Shin-chan!"

"Shin-chan?" Valentine asked in confusion at the unfamiliar name.

"Yup! 'Cuz you're named after the heart holiday!" he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. The four men blinked in confusion, not entirely understanding the boy's words.

"Her name is Valentine," Makino offered in an effort to alleviate the men's confusion, thought that did not help Val at all.

"Ah." The captain hummed in understanding. "Well, Valentine-san, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"And you," Valentine said with a small nod. "I assume you are Captain Shanks?"

"Aye. But 'Shanks' is just fine."

A rumble interrupted Valentine as she was about to ask the names of the red head's companions. Luffy blushed slightly when the others looked at him.

"What? I'm hungry!?"


	3. Reflection

**Rise of Crimson Blade**

 **Summary:** As Valentine Delilah Black, born Valentine Lethe Potter, to James Charles Potter and Lily Elizabeth Potter nee Evans, let go of her younger sister's hand and fell into the crashing waves of the sea, a new legend is born...the legend of an ethereal woman who bears a bloody blade in hand.

 **There will be cursing and allusions to (and sometimes depictions of) adult themes (Mostly because PIRATES).**

 **10 Feb 2017: This chapter has been edited heavely. So if you are a returning reader I would ask that you read it again so that you aren't confused by any changes later on.**

 **Disclaimer ~ I don't own Harry Potter or One Piece.**

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

Soft morning sunlight filtered into a room through a water-facing window framed by cream colored curtains onto the bed in the room.

Groaning at the disturbance of her sleep, the raven-haired occupant sat up from her cocoon of blankets to stretch and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Yawning, Valentine rolled out of her sleep-warmed bed to start the day.

After a few initial stumbling steps, she walked steadily through the doorway of her room and padded down the hall to the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her.

The nine-year-old walked over to the shower and started the water flow. While she waited for it to warm, Val pulled off the thin pants and shirt she had worn to bed and, once she checked the temperature of the water, clambered into the shower and just stood beneath the jets as the pleasantly hot water rained down on her head and back. After a few minutes, Valentine stepped out of the spray to grab a soap bar and cloth and began washing.

As she washed, Valentine mused over how her life had changed in the past month…

One month…

A month since Valentine had woken up in that room with a view of the sea. Since she met the cheerfully hyperactive Luffy, the calm and kind Makino, and the smiling seafaring Captain Shanks...

...Since Valentine Delilah Black had fallen to her 'death'.

Valentine knew she should feel _some_ remorse for leaving her family and friends behind, but…she just...couldn't. That life had been too filled with conflict, both as a Potter and as a Black, for her to mourn its loss.

At first, most of the conflict had just been with James, Lily, and the fame of her former brother, Charles. Back then, she had been constantly pushed to the back because of the boy's status as 'the illustrious Boy-Who-Lived'. Now that Valentine looked back on it, the fame really was the root of most, it not all, of the negativity that had been so constant in her life as a Potter, though Lily and James never really trying to even _raise_ her helped. With them constantly being in the spotlight with Charles, there was barely any time for them to set aside for Valentine.

Really, the two spoiled that boy rotten! Heaven forbid he do something to deserve a punishment. They thought he could do no wrong, that he wouldn't hurt a fly. Valentine had to - reluctantly- give the little brat credit. He could pull off the role of 'Mommy and Daddy's Little-Angel-Who-Lived' ridiculously well. If he was in public or around the aforementioned Mommy and Daddy. But you put him in a room without Lily, James, or at least one flashing camera and reporter, and his attitude left much to be desired. Not that Valentine blamed Charles for his outlook on life. No child who had an entire society praising their very existence stayed humble for long. But if there was anything good that came from being a Potter, it had to be the youngest of the family, Rosalina.

Rosalina was a breath of fresh air among the suffocation that was the Pureblood Class. She was shy and calm, but as the saying goes: ' _It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for_ '. Never had that had never been truer than with that fiery little rose, whose temper-as rare it was that Rosey loss control of it- could give Molly Weasley a run for its money.

But, not even Rosey could change how James and Lily acted toward their oldest. So, Valentine took her godfather up on his offer of adoption. She became a member of House Black.

However, even as a Black, there had been a battle. The only difference was that the conflict had been with society projecting its perceptions onto her family, not the fame of a younger brother. The misconceptions were that all Blacks were as dark as their name, twice as mad, and all the members of the House were sadists who found an immeasurable amount pleasure in the writhing, pleading deaths of their enemies. While not completely unfounded thanks to inbreeding and the famous 'Black Madness', the damn gossip had been both a murder to deal with and a blessing during her third year at Hogwarts.

A blessing because it meant that Slytherins and Ravenclaws mostly left her alone out of respect for her new family's 'Most Ancient and Noble' status. However, with the good, you must take the bad, and in this case, the 'bad' was Charles' annoying little crusade to convince the entire school that Valentine was a Death-Eater-in-training who was sent by the Dark Lord to infiltrate Hogwarts in an attempt to assassinate everyone opposed him in the school.

The little idiot only managed to convince a two-thirds of Gryffindor and less than half the Hufflepuffs, and that was only because he had that first-generation witch - Hermes? Harmony? Hermione! Hermione Granger- to help him. Even then, the majority of those students only believed Charles because he was the 'Great and Powerful Boy-Who-Lived'. Honestly, the wizarding society was a flock of sheep that followed anything that struck the fancy of their constantly changing shepherd.

But when she fell into this strange world of water, those conflicts become a distant memory. Valentine no longer held the legacy of the Forgotten Potter Child or the stigma of the Mad Blacks.

Now she was just Valentine, an unassuming sable-haired nine-year-old, with striking emerald eyes that helped out in the local bar. She was free for the first time in her life...

...And Valentine reveled in her new freedom.

 **(I am a line break, hear me roar)**

At first, Val had been reluctant to form any attachment to Foosha. But, under the combined efforts of Luffy and Makino, that reluctance faded away and in the time Valentine had spent on the island, she had grown to love Foosha Village. It truly was a beautiful place to live.

During the walk back to the Party Bar from the docks - the first day she was conscience -Valentine had likened it to the small towns of the non-magicals back in England. Where everyone knew everyone, and nothing extraordinary ever happened. However, that likeness was quickly put to rest when Valentine remembered that there were pirates walking behind her.

While they didn't seem like the kind of men to murder, raid, pillage, plunder and otherwise pilfer their weasley black guts out, it did _not_ change the fact that they were honest-to -gods, bloody _PIRATES_.

However, even _with_ the crew's seafaring criminal status, they still managed to endear themselves to Valentine. Besides, it was more likely for the entire crew to party their days away, than cause any harm to the people of Dawn Island.

"DAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Valentine was broken from her musings by the sound of a certain redhead's laughter. With an exasperated sigh, the nine-year-old finished rinsing herself off, knowing the quiet was forever lost until the pirate crew left for the night.

Stepping out of the shower, Valentine grabbed a towel from the shelf above the sink. Wrapping the fluffy cloth around her small body, the nine-year-old made her way back to her room to dress.

Once there, Valentine moved over to dresser that sat perpendicular to the window and bed. Opening one of the light brown drawers, Valentine pulled out a simple pale green sundress that fell just below her knees. Walking to the vanity, Valentine ran a comb through her hair and then sectioned off a portion of her still-wet hair at the front of her head, she began to French braid her raven locks; when she finished, the braid reached all the way to the middle of her thigh.

Pulling on a pair of sandals Valentine made her way down a flight of wooden stairs to the pirate-filled bar.

When Val arrived on the ground level of the bar, she was greeted by the sight of a soaking wet Luffy, a laughing pirate captain, and partying pirate crew.

"DAHAHAHAHA!"

"STOP LAUGHING AT ME!"

Another laugh answered the indignant shout from Luffy.

Valentine sighed, ' _here we go again._ '


	4. I have something to say

Dear Reader,

I know when you got the notification that this story was finally updating after so long you were wanting for a chapter...But got an Author's Note. Some of you might never read this, have just deleted the messages as soon as you read the title. I can only hope that those of you who do read this understand.

I'm completely revamping this story because it's not what I know it could be.

I started writing about Valentine over 10 years ago. She might not have had the same name, but it was where she started.

At the time I was so proud that I had created someone who, in my mind, was so powerful. She was smart, strong, and capable of anything. I loved finishing my homework, and then pulling out a notebook, or later a computer, and writing about the girl who was everything, who embodied all of my struggles and struck down my fear.

I loved her.

Then, reality decided to rear its ugly head. And when it did I found solace in writing, that was when I wrote the prologue of Rise of Crimson Blade.

This story was how I dealt with everything going wrong in my life. I poured my anger, my grief, my doubt, everything into this story. I wrote everything you read at the worst point in my life.

And then it ended.

But because Rise of Crimson Blade, and by extension Valentine, was so interwoven with a portion of my life that I wanted nothing to do with I stopped writing.

It's been five years since I stopped truly writing. I have tried so hard to move past it all and continue writing Rise of Crimson Blade, because so many people were following, favoriting, bookmarking, giving kudos, or commenting about how much they like the story and my writing.

But now?

I can't.

I can't write this and know it won't be my best. So, I'm completely scraping this story and starting from scratch.

I don't know when the story will be up, but as soon as it is Rise of Crimson Blade will be taken down.

Thank you for all of your support. I can only hope you understand.

See you on the other side,

-Rene_Dullahan


End file.
